A name first applied to the Covenanters in the west of Scotland, and afterwards to the anti-Stuart party in England. They later represented the party of progress and reform, in which sense they were the predecessors of the Liberals.
Whimsicals.
The name given to the English Tories who supported the House of Hanover on the accession of George I.
Whip with Six Lashes.
The name given to the Six Articles of Henry VIII, issued in 1539.
Whisky Insurrection.
A serious rising in Western Pennsylvania in 1794, caused by an attempt of the authorities to suppress illicit distillation, which was rife in that region. Some six or seven thousand insurgents were in arms, and the outbreak was only suppressed after the militia of four of the neighbouring States had been called out.
Whitby, Synod of.
A synod held in 664, at which the Saxon Churches definitely decided to adhere to the Church of Rome, rather than to the Celtic Church founded in Ireland by St. Columba.